Stopping Mbappe Is the Whole Team's Job: Barca Coach Flick Reveals His El Clasico Plan

Ahead of the season's first El Clasico, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has laid out his plan for stopping Real Madrid's French forward Kylian Mbappe. The Catalan side's German coach made it clear that handling Mbappe is not the responsibility of Barcelona's defence alone — it is the whole team's job.

On Sunday night (October 25), Barcelona and Real Madrid meet at Spotify Camp Nou in the season's first El Clasico. Excitement around Spanish football's fiercest rivalry is at its peak.

Flick's side are in superb form, having won all of their first nine La Liga matches. Beating their arch-rivals this time would give the Catalans ten straight wins and also extend their points gap over Real in the table, making this home fixture important in the title race as well.

Speaking at Saturday's press conference about his plan to contain Mbappe, Flick said: "What matters for us is being in the right positions both when we have the ball and when we don't."

He added: "When we don't have the ball, being in the right positions relative to each other and playing compactly is important — especially as we play with such a high defensive line."

In his words: "If those things are right, it becomes much easier for the defence to deal with the opponent. That is what we have to do." In other words, the defender facing Mbappe will not fight alone — from the moment possession is lost, the whole team must return to the right positions and stay compact.